What is Jet Grouting?

For buildings to be safe and secure, the foundation must be as stable as possible. One way to improve the stability of the soil is through jet grouting, which uses high-pressure fluids and binders to break apart the soil, turning it into a homogeneous substance. The substance solidifies and becomes more stable.

Jet grouting can play an important role in building construction and also is important when the soil will bear water. It can be used to prevent soils that are impacted from moving and can also keep groundwater from moving. Jet grouting also plays a role in tunnel construction.

Soil lacks stability when force placed upon the soil is able to compress it. The soil is often blended with a cement mixture or with reagent materials. The soil is sometimes excavated from its current location so that it can be mixed with the reagent materials. However, there are times when the soil is mixed with reagent materials while it is still in place.

Types of Grouting Available

When performing grouting while in place, one method commonly used is permeation, which is when the grout is injected into the soil at a low pressure. The grout is then allowed to fill the voids in the soil, which causes the soil to not change significantly in its structure. Sometimes, the grout is injected into the soil at a high velocity using a valved tube, which creates fissures that are filled with grout.

The Jet Grouting Alternative

These methods are radically different from jet grout. Instead of trying to completely or partially maintain the structure of the soil, jet grouting completely breaks up the structure before initiating the deep soil mixing process. One of the major benefits of jet grouting over other types of grouting is the fact that it can be used with almost every type of soil, including clay and sandy soils.

The jet grouting procedure can fall into one of three categories. These include the monofluid, 3-fluid and 2-fluid jet grouting procedure. The monofluid uses the binder itself to break up the soil at a high velocity. The 3-fluid jet grout relies instead on water to break apart the soil, which is aided by compressed air concentric around the jet. The 2-fluid uses the binder to break apart the soil, like with the monofluid, but also relies on the air concentric like the 3-fluid. The version that is used depends on economics, the speed at which the get grouting procedure can be carried out and the column diameter.